


Garreg Mach Pokemon Academy

by AdaraLove



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Character ages have been skewed to better fit narrative, Female Byleth is main character, Multi, Relationships tags will be added as they appear, Tags will change as series progresses, basically starts as a slice of life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:21:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29963568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdaraLove/pseuds/AdaraLove
Summary: Byleth's world is turned upside down when she is forced to live with a grandmother she never knew about.  When she learns that said grandmother is not only the ruler of Fodlan, but the headmistress to the most prestigious pokemon academy in the country, Byleth must learn how to navigate the political world of an heir apparent and the social world as a student with kids her own age; two things she was not equipped for.  Just how was she supposed to survive eight years of this when she didn't even know how to emote properly?Well...at least she would be receiving pokemon to train, so this new life couldn't be too bad, right?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Garreg Mach Pokemon Academy

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone who bothered to click on this! I bring you a meshed up world of Pokemon and Fire Emblem Three Houses! A mashup that no one probably asked for, but I decided to do it anyway because I love both of these series too much not to give it a try. Like the tags say, female Byleth will be the main character of this story and some of the ages for the characters have been skewed so that mostly everyone will be able to interact at the same time within the school and hopefully not cause any complications with age differences of certain characters for whatever relationships pop up later.
> 
> Speaking of relationships, the only one I know for certain that will happen is female Byleth x Claude but that will happen waaaaaay later in the story and will be added to the tags when Claude finally graces this story with his presence. Any other pairings are fair game at this point. I will see how the narrative goes and what people might be interested in seeing. 
> 
> With that said, I hope everyone who wishes to read this will enjoy!

Sapphire blue eyes stared glumly out the passenger window of the moving RV, watching the scenery of the countryside pass by without taking any of it in. Byleth Eisner was lost in thought, her mind replaying the last few month's on repeat as she tried to come to terms with her current situation. An almost indiscernible sigh left the young girl as she rested her chin in her hand, her elbow set against the handle-rest of the vehicle's door as she stared out at the passing scenery. At just over ten years of age, she was going to go and live with a grandmother she had never even known about. In fact, something told her that there were many things she truly didn't know, courtesy of the man who was sitting behind the wheel of the RV. 

Jeralt Eisner drove their mobile home down the road towards the country's capital with one hand on the wheel while his other arm laid upon the open window beside him, the wind from the countryside tousling his blond hair. His caramel-colored eyes stared straight ahead of him even as he heard his daughter sigh, the frown on his face setting itself further onto his aged features. 

_ “I have a grandmother?”  _

__

__ _ “Yes.” _

__ _ “...Why didn't you tell me?” _

__ The conversation felt like years ago, but had only been two months ago in time. Byleth's whole world felt like it was reeling off its axis. How had it come to this in such a short amount of time?

_ “It's hard to explain...It would take a while to tell you everything.” _

__ She had never seen her father look so exhausted as he tried to explain their situation and his reasons. His appearance was like a man who had lived more than the life she had known for far too long. It felt strange to see her father look so out of place and so...hopeless. He had always been a confidant man, one who walked through life with an ease Byleth admired. She strove to be like him, to walk confidently and proudly despite whatever trials lay before them. The young girl had seen her father traverse through the most treacherous territory in search of adventure. She was always right on his heels with her father's pokemon beside them for protection, her young features always looking nonchalant but her blue eyes hinting at the eagerness she shared with the older man.

_ “If I had to start, I guess it would be with your mother.” _

__ Her mother. Yet another person she didn't know much about. Whenever she had asked about her, her father would look so forlorn and lost, as if he still couldn't fathom the woman that she honored through looks alone was not there with them. Whatever information he gave her when she asked, it was short, clipped, and heartbroken. Byleth had made an oath early on in life to not ask about her mother unless it was highly necessary.

_ “I...met your mother at the capital, at the prestigious academy they have there for pokemon trainers. Your grandmother had hired me as one of the teachers. Let me tell you, there's nothing worse than having to teach a bunch of stuck-up rich kids.”  _

__ _ “And Mother?” _

__ _ “She was the nurse there. She was the only person who made that place tolerable for me. That and putting my students in line with a good ol' pokemon battle. Let's just say you're not the only one who has had to deal with your father's hard-ass tendencies.” _

__ _ “...” _

__ _ “...Joking aside, your grandmother was...very protective of your mother. Overbearingly so. We didn't have a good relationship, and it only worsened once I married your mother and after she became pregnant with you. Your grandmother...is a very powerful woman. Not only is she the headmistress of the most prestigious pokemon academy in the country, but she's Fodlan's leader, as well. She used this power to...to keep me away from your mother when she was having you. I wasn't allowed into the room. I wasn't there when you were born...or when your mother passed shortly after.” _

__ _ “...Did she really hate you that much? Why would she do that?” _

__ _ “...I don't know. Your mother had your grandmother wrapped around her finger, so I would have thought she would have convinced your grandmother to let me in, but I don't know what truly went down in the delivery room that day. All I know is the aftermath. Your mother died shortly after your birth, and you...were a very quiet baby.” _

__ Quiet. That was definitely a word that described her. She didn't talk unnecessarily, and when she did talk, it was usually short and clipped. It was very reminiscent of her father's way of speech, and she figured she was just imitating him, but that wasn't the quiet her father was referring to.

_ “You never cried. Not even once. Nor did you laugh or smile. It was the strangest thing...It wasn't normal.” _

__ In all truth, she didn't do much of that now, either. There had always been a...disconnect. One she couldn't really describe, but whenever her father brought her into towns and cities for supplies, she'd watch the other people with a curious gaze. They expressed themselves with such vibrancy that it was almost unsettling to her. She was used to her father not expressing much emotion, and it was hard for her to understand and express such emotions herself. When people talked of sadness or happiness, Byleth wasn't sure if she had felt such things in her life. Just...contentment? Was that the phrase for it? Or maybe they were just muted versions of said emotions? Regardless, emotions were a hard concept for her to wrap her brain around. She lived her life day in and day out just...existing with the occasional spark of what others considered 'emotion'. Sometimes she'd feel eagerness to explore a new area with her father, determination to emulate him...and, yes, contentment, on occasion. She liked the life she lived. Just her, her father, and his pokemon, out on the road, no one telling them what to do, and just...existing. And now, who knew when she'd be able to experience it again.

_ “In order to figure out what might be wrong, I had to get as far away from your grandmother's influence as possible. I had to leave the capital. But your grandmother...that over-protectiveness reserved for your mother transferred over to you once she passed. She wasn't going to let you go unless the situation was out of her hands...So...I tried to fake our deaths and left. I had a few friends that helped us out once we left the capital, and we tried to lay low as I got you checked out by a few doctors. They found out that...they couldn't hear your heartbeat but you did have an irregular pulse. When they tried to get a scan of your heart, every machine they put you in broke down by some unseen force. It was the strangest thing.” _

__ _ “ ...What...?” _

__ _ “I know that fact is hard to swallow...but it's the truth. I have no more answers for you in regards to that, but it doesn't matter. Not in the long run. You're still my daughter, no matter what might be off about you. Your irregular pulse hasn't stopped you from physically growing into a normal looking girl...it's just your emotions that are a bit off. But, that just might be genetics getting in the way. I was always a hard read and your mother...she had problems expressing how she felt. Mix both of those traits together and it's not too much of a stretch to get a kid who has problems emoting in any capacity. Maybe I should teach you poker when you're older, hehehe.” _

__ _ “...” _

__ _ “...Anyway...Your grandmother somehow found out about the doctor appointments...I guess it's not that hard for the leader of the country to find out when millions of dollars worth of medical equipment starts malfunctioning due to the same patient. Even though I was using a different name for you, your grandmother figured out it was you and that we were still alive. From there, the two of us had to live on the run...” _

__ Is that what her life had always been? Just them running away from her overprotective grandmother? That probably explained the code names they'd always use when they were in towns. She had been too young, too naive to see what the true reason for them was for. She just thought her father was playing a game with her. Like they were secret agents or something. Blade and Ashe were pretty cool sounding names, after all

_ “My plan was to eventually get you out of the country entirely but, coincidentally, the borders started to close down to the other countries surrounding us due to a series of related terrorist attacks. We've been boxed in Fodlan ever since. Border security was impossible to get through, and going into countries that were suddenly hostile towards us wasn't exactly a smart move.” _

__ How convenient indeed.

_ “...In all honesty, it was only a matter of time 'till your grandmother found us. I'm surprised we lasted as long as we did. But it was a good ride, wasn't it, Kid?” _

__ Could she say that it was good when this was the only life that she had ever known? She guessed that she'd get the answer to that soon enough.

The RV jostled slightly as her father drove over a bump, effectively breaking Byleth out of her thoughts. She stared out the windshield then to see the capital city of Garreg Mach growing closer over the horizon. The young girl leaned back in her seat, fidgeting slightly in discomfort at her thoughts. Idly, one of her hands came up to twiddle with a lock of her teal hair, the strand twisting between her twitching fingers. She couldn't remember ever feeling this way before. What kind of feeling was this? It was foreign and uncomfortable to the point it felt like her stomach was twisting in on itself. 

Byleth eyed her father out of the corner of her vision, taking in his sad resignation. This feeling she felt was partly due to him and to what had happened to them in the last two months. One of her father's old students had found them in town, which had caused the chain reaction of word getting back to her mysterious grandmother, which, in turn, caused the police to find them and for her father to be summoned to court. Since her father didn't have much money, an attorney was assigned to them from the capital, which was probably part of the cause of their undoing. Byleth's grandmother (her name was Rhea, she came to find out) charged Jeralt with purposefully keeping her granddaughter away from her despite her biological rights to see her. Jeralt's defense was that he was protecting Byleth from Rhea's overbearing tendencies and straight up suspicious behavior...

_ “I don't think we will win this, B.” _ Byleth remembered her father telling her before the trial.  _ “Your grandmother has this entire country eating out of the palm of her hand. It wouldn't surprise me if she has the entire court in her favor, paid or otherwise.” _

__ Sure enough, the court had found Rhea in the right and had decided on a rather coarse form of punishment. Since Jeralt was so poor (Byleth and him mostly lived off of the land and whatever money her father could scrounge up from jobs in nearby cities and pokemon battles), monetary compensation was out of the question, so custody of Byleth's person had been switched over to Rhea for the remainder of her childhood years. Until she was eighteen, she was to live with her grandmother where she would also attend the school she founded, Garreg Mach Pokemon Academy, while her father was limited to visitation rights only through phone or video phone to make up for the years Rhea lost with her.

She wouldn't be allowed to physically see her father, the only person she knew, for eight whole years. What a cruel and unusual way to punish someone. Just what right did this woman have to tear her family apart?

Byleth's stomach twisted painfully again, making the young girl feel sick to her stomach as a feeling she had never felt before consumed her. Her chest ached, like something was suddenly missing. 

As her eyes narrowed at the city that they were now entering, she saw Jeralt glance at her quickly out of the corner of her eye before he diverted his attention back to the road in front of him.

“I hate this too, Kiddo.”

Byleth didn't dignify his words with an answer. There really was no need when he seemed to understand how she felt before she even did. The young pre-teen just sighed and slumped back against the passenger seat, her head lolling to the side where her vision of the road in front of them was replaced with the business district of the capital from the passenger window. People and their pokemon ambled about, shopping bags and briefcases in hand as they shopped the wares the city provided or hurried off to their jobs. Despite her world being torn asunder, the rest of the world moved on, like nothing was even out of place to begin with. Her life was so infinitesimal in the grand scheme of things that the world continued to work with not a single cog out of place, time continuously ticking onward despite her struggles. She couldn’t figure out if that thought disturbed her or comforted her.

When they finally managed to reach the academy where her grandmother resided, Byleth's mood had only turned more sour. The entire establishment was surrounded by a tall, wrought-iron gate. A single, wide cobblestone road wound its way through the compound starting at said gate from the gate house, where a young, kind gentleman sat within his stone booth. Byleth's dour mood was slightly uplifted as her father talked to the man and he opened the gates for their entry, seeing them off with a kind wave aimed directly at her. Taken slightly aback, since she wasn't used to others addressing her (she let her father do all of the social interacting whenever they went to a town together. She was content to just follow his lead) she shyly waved back, the action stilted and awkward as her father drove away from the gatehouse. From how her father had described this place, she had the impression that everyone was going to be pretentious and rude, but there seemed to be one nice soul among the group, at least.

As they wove their way along the large, single road, Byleth took in the sights around her. Trees lined the path and whatever open fields there were on the campus. The buildings they passed looked like they had just appeared out of a medieval storybook, all cold gray and dull brown stone with pointed archways over gothic-styled doors, buttresses and pinnacles making their presences known from the buildings above as they towered over the students milling about. Byleth felt so out of place in the modern RV as they drove through the central courtyard and beyond the school buildings. It truly felt like she had been transported back through time to a different place. She only felt at ease again once a very out of place, modernized building came into view, the grey stone of the other buildings replaced by grey-white cement, the ramparts replaced with metal beams and the colored, stained glass windows replaced by opaque, glass-domed ceilings. The building was massive and obviously not used for living in. It gave off the air of scientific expansion as Jeralt, too, drove by it and onward to their true destination. 

Finally, their trip came to a heartrending end as Jeralt drove their RV, her home, past a cream, bricked archway and into Lady Rhea's estate, the mansion beyond the archway made of the same colored stone. The mansion was expansive and surrounded by trees to keep out prying eyes. It was more vast than it was tall, the building probably only being two stories in height. A large set of rectangular steps led up to a pristine set of white double front doors, the stoop lined with flower bushes of striking pinks and yellows. Jeralt pulled the large vehicle to a stop a few feet from the front steps. As he shifted the gear into park, his caramel eyes took in the sight of the manse before him, a saddened sigh escaping his lips.

“It hasn't changed a bit.”

The older man's voice sounded far off, like it had traveled back to a different point in his life, one he wasn't sure he liked to reflect on but was forced to do so anyway. Byleth frowned slightly, hating how the sound of her father's laments stabbed at her heart so unsuspectingly. When her father turned to face her then, she felt that stab escalate to a rending tear, like a knife twisting it's way into a fresh wound as his doleful eyes stared into hers.

“You ready, Kid?”

Jeralt was a strong man. That's all Byleth had known him as. But right now, in front of her, he looked nothing more than a shadow of himself. Broken and defeated. She had to wonder if he had looked this way when he had lost her mother.

Not being one for words, Byleth didn't say anything as she averted her gaze, one of her hands falling upon the duffle bag that sat between them on the three-person bench seat of the RV cab. She shook her head resolutely, as if that would be enough to fix this whole situation and they could be back on their way to parts unknown, exploring the world together as a family like they always did. She wanted to ride on her father's luxray, and watch the world around her fade away into a blur of color as they ran through open fields. She wanted to take afternoon naps with her father's blaziken, the two of them resting their bodies against a tree as the warm sun shone down on them. Or she could be studying with his alakazam, reading her home-schooling books and working out problems with the intelligent pokemon's help. She could be sneaking out of the RV at night with the aid of her father's venomoth, the nocturnal pokemon leading the way through the dark on their mischievous adventure with its luminous wings. She could be working on her balance and footwork with her father's dubwool, the sheep pokemon rolling and bucking to get her off of him as they trained together in the early morning light. Or she could be playing catch with her father's granbull, which would inevitably devolve into a wrestling match as the stubborn thing would decide to play keep-away halfway through, much to her minor amusement and chagrin. Better yet, she could be walking the countryside with her father, the two of them making camp somewhere far from the parked RV as they traveled for too long and lost track of time. They'd strike up a campfire to keep them warm and have some home-cooked curry to keep their bellies full and spirits light. She'd rather do anything.  _ Anything _ other than what they were doing now. She...she wasn't going to have moments like those again...not for a long time.

“Come on, B,” Jeralt's voice broke through her thoughts like cool water being poured over the dying embers of a campfire. She took note of the nickname he called her. It was the one he used when he wanted to show some affection, since he wasn't one for physical displays of any sort. Byleth was going to miss it. “Your grandmother is waiting for us.”

Sure enough, as Byleth peered past her father's bulky figure and through the driver's window to the front stoop, a woman, who looked no younger than her mid-thirties, stood there. She was beautiful in an almost surreal way. Long, mint-green hair traveled down past the shoulders of the white pants suit she wore, the clothing in question giving a regal, yet business-like air to the woman with it's fine gold trimmings. Silver heels adorned her dainty feet as she walked down the stone steps towards them with ease, her mint-colored eyes filled with warmth and something akin to boastful pride that set Byleth on edge in her seat as Jeralt got out of the driver's seat to greet her. The older woman, who easily looked like she wasn't old enough to have a ten-year-old granddaughter, gave her father a passive, almost cold glance, the warmth in her eyes dimming considerably as he greeted her. This was the first time Byleth was seeing her, since Jeralt hadn't wanted her to be present for the court hearings, but for the two adults, this was one of the many times they had crossed paths in the last two months, and from her grandmother's clipped responses to her father's greeting, it was one time too many.

“Jeralt, how nice it is to see you again,” the older woman answered cordially. Her voice gave off an air of politeness, but one wouldn't have to look too far underneath to hear the tone of anger and discontent. It didn't help that her gaze was just as steely as the words that left her mouth next. “I'm honored to finally be able to meet the girl our dear Sitri left us after such a long time apart.”

Sitri...that was her mother's name, wasn't it? She wasn't sure if her father had ever mentioned it before. If he did, it was a long time ago during a point in her life she couldn't remember. 

Byleth finally willed herself out of the RV to save her father from the polite ire of her grandmother as he answered the older woman with a frown and a glare that would have caused a lesser person to flee and wet themselves. Grabbing hold of her duffle bag as she did so, Byleth slung the strap over her head and across her shoulder as she closed the passenger door and made her way around the vehicle to peer shyly up at the green-haired woman. Immediately, Rhea's irate glare turned to that of warm adoration as she switched her view from Byleth's father to the girl in question.

“It is so nice to see you again, Byleth,” Rhea spoke kindly, her voice lilting in a way that would have made any nervous person feel at ease in an instant. Too bad her underlying tone sounded nauseatingly victorious. Byleth suddenly felt like she was under the prideful eye of a woman staring down at a hard-won trophy. “Our reunion has been too long overdue. I look forward to the years we will have together.”

The teal-haired preteen did her best to school her features into one of shy neutrality as she nodded in forced agreement to the green-haired stranger before her. Her whole body already felt on edge, the hairs on the back of her arms standing up in wariness as Rhea returned her gaze to the blond-haired man beside her.

“Is that one bag the only luggage she has?”

The words came out disapprovingly, but Jeralt didn't bat an eye. 

“Of course. That's all that she needs.”

Byleth agreed, of course. Her life might have looked meager to her extremely rich grandmother, but what would she do with a closet full of clothes or other knick knacks? Clothes were a basic necessity. She only needed a few cold-weather sets and warm-weather sets, with some pajamas, underwear, maybe a swimsuit, and a pair of shoes on her feet and some boots for the winter. What else could someone need that would require more than a duffle bag's worth of luggage?

Rhea frowned in disagreement.

“Well, I suppose I will provide her with whatever she is lacking then.”

“Quick to assert your opinion as always,” Jeralt chided with a humorless chuckle. “Do you mind giving me and the kid some privacy for a few moments? I'd like to say goodbye to my daughter.”

Rhea looked like she would rather run and impale herself on the academy's wrought-iron fence. Regardless, she gave a curt yet polite, 'Of course', before she left their presence to head back towards the stoop and wait, her mint-colored eyes shifting back to a warm adoration as she sent Byleth one more look before turning to leave. The mood-shift was so sudden and unexpected it left the young girl with emotional whiplash as she tentatively watched her grandmother's retreating back.

The familiar pop and hissing of opening pokeballs averted Byleth's distracted stare as she turned her attention back to her father. His six pokemon, her family, now stood around them in a protective huddle as Jeralt knelt down and, for the first time Byleth could even remember, brought her into a bone-crushing hug. The young girl's blue eyes widened in shock before she tentatively brought her arms up to return the embrace. The teal-haired girl felt a calming warmth encompass her as she held onto her father. She had never done this with anyone before. Hopefully she was doing it correctly. 

When Jeralt finally pulled away, he kept his hands securely on his daughter's shoulders, his brown eyes boring into her uncertain blue to press his next words home. 

“Never let your guard down around your grandmother. Do you understand?”

Her father sounded so dire, as if the words were the only things that could keep her protected when he was no longer around. Byleth nodded mutely, her eyes narrowing in determination to show that she understood. Jeralt's gaze softened then, if only minutely.

“I don't know what she has planned for you, but I don't like it. Just...always be watchful around her...but don't make her angry, either. You've already seen what she is capable of when she is.”

Obviously, if her being ripped away from her family for the rest of her childhood with next to no visitation rights was anything to go by. Something told Byleth that wasn't even the fullest extent of Rhea's power, or anger, for that matter. 

Another silent and solemn nod was Byleth's reply, the only sound among the group being her father's pokemon grunting and crying out in anger at the mention of Rhea. As Byleth glanced around her family circle, she took in each individual pokemon she had known since she was born. Jeralt's luxray, the only female on his team, looked at her resolutely, her features as neutral as her master's normally were as she nodded at Byleth in goodbye. Byleth's blue eyes then moved over to the tall form of her father's alakazam, the mustached, humanoid pokemon rubbing at his eyes with a spoon-filled hand, his brown armored chest heaving with quiet sobs. A gray clawed hand rested upon one of the alakazam's pauldron-like shoulders, the hand belonging to the usually relaxed blaziken, who stared down at her with a worried expression on it's bird-like face. His red feathers were ruffled and sparking with embers like he was ready to protect her at a moments notice. The rotund, horned shape of Jeralt's dubwool stood next to the anthropomorphic bird, the sheep pokemon glaring determinedly at the young girl and scraping the ground with a single hoof like it wanted to charge at something to vent it's anger. Byleth knew that she would only have to give a single command and the dubwool would be ramming itself into Rhea with a well aimed roll. Hovering next to the irate sheep was the cool and collected venomoth Byelth always got in trouble with. The usually confident pokemon stared down at her sadly, its luminous wings almost drooping as they glittered with poisons just waiting to be released on whatever wanted to harm her. And finally, Jeralt's granbull completed their family circle, standing at the older man's other side. The fairy bulldog was just half a head smaller than her now as it broke through Jeralt's hold on her to come up and give her a bone-crushing hug, whimpering all the while. Byleth had to remember how to breath as the other pokemon took the cue and joined in the now-group-hug with Jeralt's venomoth latching onto dubwool's back, since it couldn't join the group in further without accidentally touching someone with his toxic wings.

Jeralt let out a quiet, yet sad chuckle at the sight of his perplexed daughter being smothered by her 'brothers' and 'sister'. Maybe he should have given her more physical affection while she was growing up, despite how hard and awkward it was for him to do so. Just how was she going to handle being around other kids her age that might show her the same affections? 

The older man had to quickly smother the sudden blood lust he felt at the thought of some punk-ass boy trying to hug his daughter, lest his pokemon sense it and go on a rampage for him in his stead. Gods, there were so many things he hadn't even attempted to talk to his daughter about...and now, he was going to have to do it through the loving comfort of a video phone whenever he was in a town. 

Seeing how lost and suddenly torn he looked, Byleth was quick to pat and hug whatever pokemon she could once she could free her arms from the group hug. When she was done and her father's pokemon were placated, her attention turned back towards the older man.

“What are you going to do now, Father?”

Jeralt stiffened at the question but was quick to relax again as he took in his daughter's quizzical stare. A soft half-smile adorned his lips as he stated, “I guess the team and I will have to go and reclaim an old title of ours.”

Byleth tilted her head to the side in confusion, the action mimicking the same thing Granbull would do when he was perplexed by something. “What do you mean?”

Jeralt let out an actual laugh then, his voice almost booming and causing his pokemon to chuckle with him at some unknown understanding as they left her to stand beside him once more. The older man gave her his usual confident smirk, one she hadn't seen for months, as his hand came down to ruffle her teal tresses, an almost challenging glint shimmering in his brown eyes. 

“That is another story for another time. Maybe I'll tell you once I get to the next town and settle in? I'll try to call when I can, okay, Kid?”

A small smile made its way onto the young girl's lips, her father's words and actions comforting her as the time to part finally came upon them.

“Okay.”

With a loving nod to her, Jeralt returned his pokemon to their pokeballs with the practiced ease of a veteran and turned back towards the RV.

“When you turn eighteen and graduate from this place, you better come find me,” Byleth's father chided with warm familiarity as he climbed into the cab. “And I'll expect a real fight out of you, so you better be prepared.”

“Of course,” Byleth nodded with a small chuckle, her pulse thumping a little faster at the thought of being able to battle her father in a real pokemon match.

Jeralt spared her one more loving glance, one filled with all the fatherly pride he felt for her. The emotion was so strong, so raw for her father to even display, that Byleth felt overwhelmed by the warm fuzzy feeling she suddenly felt in her chest. The strange feeling didn't last long though before Jeralt's stare turned to the waiting Rhea in the distance, the warmth in his eyes being smothered by cold, steely determination, as if he was silently daring Rhea to break the promise he had just made with his daughter with whatever she had planned. The older woman met the stare unflinchingly with a steely gaze of her own, silently accepting the unspoken challenge and consequently making Byleth's skin crawl in response. 

With the resounding clang of the closing RV door, Byleth watched as her father turned their home—her whole world—around and drove away from the mansion. All of a sudden, the young girl's heart felt heavy in her chest, weighed down by the loss of memories never to be made and words left unsaid as the only family she had known was forced to leave her life. She had to remind herself that they weren't completely gone, that she could still speak to them when her father managed to find a public video phone wherever they ended up, but she knew that it wouldn't feel the same. She was suddenly under the care of a woman she didn't know; a woman with questionable intentions for her. As Byleth turned to face the woman, she was met again with Rhea's well practiced warm gaze and a beckoning, outstretched hand. Replaying her father's warning to her in her head, Byleth made the trek across the drive to the front stoop, and walked purposefully up the stairs to her awaiting grandmother. With only a small amount of trepidation and with a determined flare reminiscent of the man that just left her life, Byleth placed her hand into Rhea's awaiting palm, the young girl's blue eyes meeting the older woman's mint-green eyes with the air of a trainer accepting the challenge before them. 

She was Byleth Eisner, daughter of Jeralt Reus Eisner, the strongest person and pokemon trainer she has ever known, and she'd be damned if she'd let her new guardian see her as anything otherwise.


End file.
